Captain Robert Posey and Pfc. Lincoln Kirstein were the first through the small gap in the rubble blocking the ancient salt mine at Altausee, high in the Austrian Alps in 1945 as World War II drew to a close in May 1945. They walked past one sidechamber in the cool damp air and entered a second one, the flames of their lamps guiding the way.

There, resting on empty cardboard boxes a foot off the ground, were eight panels of The Adoration of the Lamb by Jan van Eyck, considered one of the masterpieces of 15th-century European art. In one panel of the altarpiece, the Virgin Mary, wearing a crown of flowers, sits reading a book.

"The miraculous jewels of the Crowned Virgin seemed to attract the light from our flickering acetylene lamps," Kirstein wrote later. "Calm and beautiful, the altarpiece was, quite simply, there."

Kirstein and Posey were two members of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives section of the Allies, a small corps of mostly middle-aged men and a few women who interrupted careers as historians, architects, museum curators and professors to mitigate combat damage. They found and recovered countless artworks stolen by the Nazis.

Unidentified G.I. holding a painting of the Madonna and Child, at Altaussee, Austria, 1945. Annotations by Lt. Cdr. Thomas Carr Howe on the verso of the photograph: "Altaussee, Summer 1945. A G.I. holding a Sch. of Leonardo da Vinci [Madonna and Child] taken  to Görings fury  from Monte Cassino. He rejected this painting and many others when they were presented to him by members of his air force. It was not proper to loot the holdings of an ally (Italy). Curious morality!" (Thomas Carr Howe papers, Archives of American Art)

The real story here is that the Americans saved these works of art and RETURNED them to their rightful owners whenever possible. What other country RETURNS plunder to its owners? That has always been the US badge of honor. We don’t keep conquered lands, and we don’t keep stolen valuables. At least, that is what I was taught.

I don’t know about the rest of the Italian stuff, but the pieces from Monte Cassino were saved through one of the few civilized acts of the Wehrmacht. Kesselring and the local commander Von Senger prompted and assisted the Augustinian monks in evacuating the art and archives of the abbey, as it was in the front line and at risk of destruction, and it was in fact destroyed. But much if not all its valuable contents were saved.

The real story here is that the Americans saved these works of art and RETURNED them to their rightful owners whenever possible. What other country RETURNS plunder to its owners? That has always been the US badge of honor. We dont keep conquered lands, and we dont keep stolen valuables. At least, that is what I was taught.

Shirley, you jest :)

17
posted on 02/09/2014 9:49:25 AM PST
by onona
(The entitlement army doesnt vote for candidates, they vote for gravy.)

Saw the movie last night. This has been one aspect of WWII that has long intrigued me, and in fact, did a few term papers on plundered WWII art in college.

I think the movie was somewhere in the "decent to good," range, but a little better screenwriting could have taken it to the, "very good to excellent" range.

In spite of the liberal assemblage in the cast, I think there was an almost unwitting theme of the value and worth of preserving the signs and symbols of western civilization. I was quite surprised to see Catholic priests presented in a somewhat heroic light and the Soviets in a less than flattering one.

As an aside, this month marks the 45th anniversary of the original broadcast of Sir Kenneth Clark's Civilisation series which first aired on the BBC from February - May 1969.

Clark was appointed director of the British National Gallery at the age of 30, and was instrumental in overseeing the cataloging and relocation of the collection to country homes and other locations during the blitz.

I can highly recommend the Civilisation series for anybody who has not seen it: art history the way it should be taught.

I can also recommend this book for those really interested in the subject of the recovery of art in the late and post war period. I'm a somewhat vociferous reader of anything I can find on the topic, and for my money this is one of the best tomes I've yet read:

Speaking of western culture, we’re fast losing what little remains of that which so many have died to try to preserve. And it appears many more lives will be lost if we’re to save what’s left — if we can.

I will not go to see this movie because of the leftist actors who spout out their leftist dribble at us.

Me neither. I don't care how great a movie is, I will not subsidize these leftist/Marxist, America hating actors and entertainment companies with my hard earned $$$$.

I am doing my part to starve the beast by not subsidizing these filthy America hating actors and entertainment companies - more conservatives and like minded American Patriots need to do the same, to really put a financial hurt on these anti-American actors and entertainment companies and send them a loud, financial message they will hear loud and clear!!!

The Army organized the European Civil Affairs Division (ECAD) to run the occupation of Germany and oversee local government. Part of their mission was also to seize and secure art and historical artifacts. IIRC, they recovered quite a bit of stuff.

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